Welcome to the Family
by LittleMissMuppet
Summary: ON-GOING. The love story of Elder Kevin Price and Elder Connor McKinley, as told by (OC) Marie Price, Kevin's little sister! VERY McPriceley! AU where the Uganda missionaries were never excommunicated.
1. Chapter 1: The Family Meeting, Part One

**Hey guys! This is my first multi-chapter story! Hope y'all like it!**

**Feel free to review!**

**I don't own Book of Mormon, all rights go to their respective owners!**

**...**

My oldest brother Kevin was home from his two-year mission in Uganda and all was well with the Price family again. True, a few things had changed; all of us had grown two years older, Kevin and my other brother Jack were both planning for college, and Kevin's best friend Arnold was around more. They were matched up to go to Uganda together during missionary training. We didn't know him that well before the mission. In fact, in the beginning the most we really saw of him was the drop-off at the airport. Kevin occasionally mentioned him in the letters he wrote to us and once in a while there was a picture. But since they had come home, Arnold had been around our family a lot more. He had dinner with us once a week on average, and every weekend he and Kevin were hanging out. I liked him a lot. He was really cool and nice and fun to be around.

But the biggest change was yet to come. Actually, it was a whole BUNCH of changes all rolled into one action-packed summer.

Let me rewind and start from the beginning. It was the first Saturday of summer vacation, AND the day after the last day of school, which made it the absolute most perfect way to start a summer. I had just finished fifth grade and I was ready to face my vacation with vim and vigor. I had had visions of summer literally since the first day of school, and now they seemed so close I could reach out and touch them; bus trips with my seminary class, swimming, bike riding with my friends, and our annual weeklong family trip to our beautiful beach house! And to top it all off, Kevin would be home for all of it!

However, all that stuff was temporarily pushed to the side on this particular Saturday during our family meeting. Yes, my family actually has those. And they're not as bad (or cheesy) as TV and movies make them out to be.

Our family meetings in particular are actually pretty cool. We have a giant whiteboard that my parents write "announcements" on, and anybody that wants to gets ten minutes on the timer to speak about something.

Our first family meeting of the summer started off pretty normal: my parents announced upcoming local summer kick-off events (you wouldn't believe how many barbecues and pool parties were within a 5-mile radius of our house) and reminded us to start thinking about our beach trip, even though it was still three whole months away. We were reminded for the bazillionth time that this trip is always a big one for the Price family, as it is our special way to end the summer together (we always go the week before school starts). Anyone who had summer homework assigned for the next school year was asked to raise their hands. The three of us glanced at each other, but no hands went up. _Sweet!_ I thought. _That just made my summer ten times better!_

"Now who wants ten minutes?" my mother asked, holding up our tomato-shaped timer as if it were a game show prize.

Again, my brothers and I shared glances. Nobody seemed to have anything to say. _Awesome!_ I thought. _Not that I don't love a good family meeting, but let's get this summer started already!_

But just as I was about to pop off the couch and high-tail it to the backyard, Kevin cleared his throat.

"Um, I have something to say," he said. He slowly got up off the couch and my beaming mother handed him the timer.

I cocked my head. Something seemed off here. Why did Kevin get up so slowly? Why did he look so nervous? Why was he fiddling with the timer like he didn't know how to use it? My parents have had that thing since before he was born…he knew very well how to set it.

After a moment of silence and more fiddling, Kevin suddenly put the timer down on the coffee table…without setting it. Okay, something was _seriously_ wrong. We all looked up at him for an explanation, but all he said was, "I don't need it. No amount of time is appropriate enough for this."

Jack and I shared a glance. Both of us had the same dumbfounded expression. We gazed back up at our big brother.

Kevin folded his hands and swept his gaze around the four of us. "I have something very important to tell you all," he began. "It's not exactly something I've been _hiding, _but rather something I really haven't come to terms with until fairly recently. And I am fully ready to accept whatever backlash I may receive from this."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Mom…Dad…Jack…Marie…" he said. "I'm gay."

...

All of us simultaneously fell back in our seats with shock. Kevin hung his head.

I didn't know what to say. Firstly, let me make something very clear: I am **_not_** homophobic in any sense of the word. I most definitely do not agree with the way the Mormon church views gay people…but it's also most definitely a personal belief I've had to keep to myself, for fear of excommunication. And now my own brother had just come out…

My heart pounded as a million thoughts raced through my head. What would Mom and Dad say? What would they _do?_ Did Jack feel the same way I did about gay people? Was Jack gay, too? What was going to happen to Kevin? Would he be kicked out of the house? Would he be kicked out of the church? Were we _all_ going to be kicked out of the church? Would we then have to move away? I grabbed the nearest pillow and hugged it to my chest to steady myself. I'd never felt so scared in my life.

All of a sudden, my parents both stood up. I squeezed the pillow even tighter.

"We will continue this family meeting tonight," my mother said rigidly. "Your father and I need to be alone for a while." And with that, my parents marched up the stairs. Jack and I sat, frozen, until we heard the faint sound of their bedroom door closing.

We looked warily up at Kevin. His head was still bowed, his eyes squeezed shut, his mouth a tight line.

I threw the pillow aside and ran into my brother, throwing my arms around him in a hug. I, too, squeezed my eyes shut, and my tears began to fall. He wrapped his arms around me, and I felt a lone tear drop onto my ear, followed by a very sad Kevin-sniff.

A moment later, I felt two more arms join in, belonging of course to Jack. The three of us were silent, except for our quiet sobs.

...

The rest of the morning dragged on with painful silence. I didn't feel like going outside anymore. I sat in my room, my journal (a pre-mission gift from Kevin) on my lap, a pack of colored pencils at my side and indigo crooked in my hand. But I drew nothing. The blank page before me reflected my mood. I didn't know what to say, think, or feel. I was so proud of my brother for coming out…but what was to become of our family?

My parents' room is right next to mine, and I can hear through the wall when they talk or watch TV. I could hear their voices, but they were so low I couldn't make heads or tails of what they were saying. But I didn't care. Whatever it was, I didn't want to hear it.

What _did_ I want? I put indigo back and picked up peach. And I drew my family.

I drew my parents first. Then to their right, I drew Kevin, Jack, and me, in that order. While drawing each person, I occasionally exchanged peach for other colors, to give highlight to our hair, facial features, and clothes. When it was all done and I had finished coloring in my lavender sneakers, I sat back for a moment and looked over my work. It was missing something.

I rustled around in my pencils until I found hot pink. There was a big empty space above our heads, and I knew just what it needed. As slowly as I could draw, so I wouldn't mess up, I drew a giant heart. The lines and curves turned out just as perfect as I had wanted them, and I shaded it, leaving no spot uncolored.

I studied my work again, and tears burned on the backs of my eyes. I had done a good job, but knowing that my perfect, happy, and united family could possibly soon be no more, I didn't want to see it. I slammed my journal shut and threw hot pink back. My journal was shoved under my pillow, and I sat for just a moment with my arms hugging my knees.

Without really thinking, I walked out. Just being in the same room with that drawing was too much to bear at that moment. I peeked next door into Kevin's room. He was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling, arms folded behind his head. His mouth was still a tight line. He lifted his head when he heard his door creak, and smiled slightly when he saw me.

I entered the room and climbed up onto the bed. Kevin sat up and pulled me into a hug. We were silent. There was nothing we could say.

Jack joined us a minute later, and after another sibling group hug, all three of us laid down next to each other. We laid there in absolute silence, wrapped in each other's arms. I'd never felt closer to my brothers in my life.

Pretty soon it got rather cozy, just my brothers and I cuddled up together, just quietly wrapped in a three-way hug. And without really meaning to, we fell asleep.

We must have slept all through the afternoon and into the evening, because the next thing I knew, our mom was rapping on the door and announcing our continuation of the earlier meeting. We slowly moved into one last group hug and trudged downstairs together.

**...**

**Stay tuned! Chapter 2 is on its way!**

**Can't wait to share this story with all of you!**

**Again, feel free to review! I enjoy feedback! But please be nice! LOL**


	2. Chapter 2: The Family Meeting, Part Two

**And so the Price family meeting continues...**

**...**

We sat next to each other on the couch (Kevin sat between Jack and I) and held hands, facing our parents, who stood before us. After a moment of silence, our dad cleared his throat.

"Mom and I have been talking," he began. I squeezed Kevin's hand, and he squeezed mine back.

"And we realized some very important things," Dad continued. "Firstly…Kevin, we've only known that you are gay since this morning." Kevin hung his head in shame. A lump formed in my throat.

"But," Dad continued, "we've loved you since you were born."

We all sat up straighter. Jack and I looked up at Kevin. His eyes had lit up, but that familiar smile wasn't back yet. "Does…does that mean…" he stammered.

My parents smiled. This time my mother spoke. "Kevin, I gave birth to you," she said. "Your father and I raised you from the moment you came into this world. We watched you take your first steps…we heard you speak your first words…we gave you a brother, and then a sister to love, and love them you always have…we sent you off to school and watched you take each year by storm…we watched you grow up into a wonderful young man…we watched you graduate high school, and we cried tears of joy because we were so proud of you…we watched you answer Heavenly Father's call and become a missionary…we sent you away to Uganda for two years, and although we missed you, we were _so_ proud of you…we welcomed you back home just a short week ago…and now we've heard you come out. We've watched your entire life pass before our eyes, and we've loved you the entire way. And we're not about to take any of that away."

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it. My family was not about to be split apart!

Kevin smiled from ear-to-ear. I could see his eyes shining with imminent tears.

And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, my dad interjected, "We know that we could get excommunicated from the church. We know how people can and will treat us for this. But honestly, we don't care. After our faith, our children are the most important things to us. We're not about to shut out our own child just because our faith doesn't agree with who he loves."

Kevin practically launched himself off of the couch and wrapped both of our parents in a hug. "Why didn't you say anything before?" he asked.

My mom shook her head and chuckled. "Honey, in case you've forgotten, we're Mormons. As soon as you said the word 'gay', our religion kicked in. But that was wrong, because we were being selfish. Immediately we started thinking about how this was going to affect _us_, just your father and I. But it isn't about us. It's about you. And it's about our whole family, and that no matter what happens, we love each other."

Mom looked over Kevin's shoulder and smiled at Jack and I. "Right, guys?" she asked.

We responded by jumping up and forming a family hug…the biggest and best one since we picked up Kevin from the airport just a mere week ago…

**...**

**Hooray! It looks like the Price family is going to be okay!**

**But this story doesn't end here...no way, we've got one entire summer to document!**

**Join us next time when we find out even more shocking news...**


	3. Chapter 3: Somebody

**Miss Marie thought that her big brother coming out was the biggest news of the summer...**

**Let's see what happens when she chances upon a private phone conversation later that night...**

**...**

They call me an eavesdropper. I call it being in the right place at the right time.

That night, after Kevin had come out, I walked past his bedroom after grabbing a snack from the kitchen, and I could hear him talking to someone.

I stopped for a second. I thought he was talking to Jack, but I could hear Jack in his room playing Xbox. And my parents had retired to their room long ago to watch the nightly news. So who on earth could Kevin be talking to?

I slunk over to the barely-open door and peeked in in, biting my lip so I would be sure not to make a sound. Kevin was sitting on the bed facing the wall, his phone plastered to his ear.

"Yeah, yeah I did it!" Kevin was saying, his voice joyful. "And everything turned out perfect!"

_Someone else knew about Kevin being gay before us? _I thought. _How is that possible? He always tells us everything first!_

I strained my ears to hear the voice of the other person, but all I heard was garbled gibberish.

Kevin laughed at whatever the other person had said, and then paused for a moment while the mysterious somebody kept talking.

"About you?" he said. "That'll be tomorrow. One bombshell at a time!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. _More_ big news? _And_ it involved another person?

My young 11-year-old brain slowly put two and two together. My eyes widened. Not only was my brother gay, but he was…_with_ someone.

My hand flew to my mouth to block any noise of surprise that would give my presence away. I strained my ears even harder, but I still couldn't understand what that someone was saying.

Instead I heard Kevin chuckle and say, "Well, I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Then, after a pause, "I love you too!"

I quickly tiptoed back to the end of the hallway. I now had a plan in mind. I would pretend that I was just coming upstairs and heard the end of the conversation, and then I'd casually enter Kevin's room and ask who he was talking to. Foolproof. Absolutely foolproof.

I took a deep breath and walked normally down the hall to Kevin's door, and knocked. With no hesitation, he called out, "Come in!"

_Well,_ I thought. _That was easy._ I entered the room. Kevin's eyes lit up. "Hey, little sis!" he said. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much," I casually said as I climbed up onto the bed next to him. "Who was that you were talking to?" No use beating about the bush.

Kevin hesitated. "Oh, ummmm…well, I, uh…I was talking to…somebody I met…in Uganda! Our District Leader, actually!"

I raised one eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

Kevin blushed. "I guess you heard that last little bit," he replied. "I wasn't going to tell until tomorrow."

He looked genuinely embarrassed, so I decided to humor him and play dumb. I cocked my head curiously like a puppy. "Tell what?" I asked.

Kevin nervously cleared his throat. "Well…ummm…our District Leader…and I…are…ummm…we're a couple," he slowly answered.

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. I shifted from my butt to my knees and grabbed Kevin's hands, my eyes wild with joy.

"Tell me all about him! What's his name? Where's he from? How long have you been together? Tell me everything!" I was so excited, I could hardly keep still. I bounced up and down on my knees, making the bed (and us) rock.

Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he said. "One question at a time, little missy!" I giggled innocently.

Kevin smiled and kissed the top of my head. "I'll tell everyone everything in the morning, okay?" he said. "I think it's time we both went to bed."

My shoulders slumped. "Kevvie…" I whined.

With another chuckle and a sly grin, Kevin scooped me up like a sack of potatoes. I shrieked and giggled the entire way back to my room. He stopped at the side of my bed, pulled back the covers, then held me up a little higher. "Ready?" he asked.

I giggled even harder. We hadn't done this in years. "Ready!" I answered. Kevin slammed me down (gently, of course) onto my bed. My sides ached from laughing.

Kevin tucked me in and kissed my forehead. I folded my hands together and looked up at him with pleading eyes. "Puh-leeeeaaaaaase tell me, Kevvie?" I asked sweetly.

Kevin smiled sympathetically and hugged me. "You'll find out in the morning, I promise," he replied. He kissed my forehead again and gently squeezed my hand. "Now get some sleep." He reached over and switched off my lamp. "I love you, little sis."

I smiled. "I love you too, big brother." I rolled over and pulled the covers over my shoulder, watching as Kevin walked to the door and blew me one last kiss before pulling my door almost completely shut.

I waited until I heard his own bedroom door close, then I heaved an exaggerated sigh and slapped my arms down onto my covers. I had to wait until _morning_ to learn about my big brother's new love? My clock read 9:00. Morning was hours and hours away…

I suddenly remembered. The drawing. I pulled out my journal from under my pillow. I quietly turned my lamp back on and frantically flipped through the pages until I found it. Five faces smiling up at me. Five faces of a family that was still together. The heart above them meant so much more than ever before.

I smiled and set my journal on my nightstand, keeping the drawing open. Before switching my lamp off I lightly touched it with my fingers. My family was still perfect.

And, as I was going to find out the next morning, it was about to get just a little bit bigger…

**...**

**So there's somebody else in the picture! And I think all of us BoM fans know who it is ;)**

**Stay tuned for the big introduction!**


	4. Chapter 4: Connor

**Well, here it is! The introduction you've all been waiting for!**

**Sorry for taking so long! But here it is!**

**Enjoy and review if you like :)**

**...**

The next morning was Sunday, which meant church.

For the most part, I love going to church. I have a small collection of special church-only sundresses; the sky blue one is my favorite. I like sitting in my favorite spot, which is right between my brothers. I like singing hymns. I like the group prayers and the air of "togetherness" that they bring about. I like getting to see my friends that I know I won't be seeing for the rest of the day, since after church, our religion decrees that we remain housebound on Sundays.

But what I _don't_ like about church is that sometimes IT'S JUST SO BORING. I'm a high-energy kid, and being expected to sit still for an hour ad ten minutes can be kind of a tall order.

But I have a special way of entertaining myself when things get uninteresting: Counting.

It all started one Sunday morning during services when I was five years old. I was sitting between my brothers, feeling particularly antsy that morning. I was _beyond_ bored out of my mind and incessantly shifting my weight from one brother to the other.

Finally, when Jack had had enough of me using his legs as a full-body pillow, he leaned down and whispered to me that I had better sit up straight and either pay attention or quietly entertain myself, or else I was going to be in hot water when we got home. He wasn't threatening me personally; the disapproving looks from my mother were making him nervous.

Disgruntled, I removed myself from Jack's lap and chose the latter since I had no interest whatsoever in the ongoing sermon.

And how does a five-year-old entertain herself when she is expected to remain stationary in one spot for a little over an hour? She counts everything around her.

And that's what I've done for the past six years whenever I get bored. I look around the temple and silently count anything that can be counted.

I count twenty-three pews on the left, and twenty-three on the right. Each pew can seat between twelve and fifteen people, but I only count them all if I'm _really_ bored. I count any relatives I see. I count all thirteen children in the Landerson family. I count all of the windows from top to bottom, and then all of the doors from side to side. I count how many people are wearing glasses. I count how many kids look just as bored as I am. During the summer, I count how many people are using the hymnbooks as fans. During the winter, I count how many people are wearing heavy overcoats.

I count until the bishop calls for the group prayer at the end. Sometimes I get so caught up in my counting that Kevin or Jack has to give me a little nudge to bring me back to the present. Other times I snap right back into the service and bow my head with everyone else, thinking, "Thank you Heavenly Father, it's almost over!"

Then afterwards, my parents stay behind and talk to their friends and my brothers and I escape to the playground area outside to talk to ours. Then we go home, and there we stay for the rest of the day; we watch movies, we play board games, or we just sit and relax. Even though we can't leave the house, Sunday is my favorite day of the week.

But this Sunday was going to be a little bit different…in more ways than one.

**…**

_Click-clack click-clack. Click click click, clack click, clack click._

That was the sound I woke up to. My eyes slowly fluttered open. What was that? At first, I thought maybe it was part of my dream. But after taking a moment to wake up, it was still there.

_Click, click-click clack, click. Clack._

It was unlike any sound I had heard in our house before. I couldn't put my finger on it.

I rolled over and looked at my clock. 9:45.

OMGOSH, we were going to be late for church!

I was out of bed in an instant. The strange sound forgotten, I wrenched my door open and ran up and down the hall hammering on all of the bedroom doors with the palm of my hand, hollering like a colonial town crier as I did so.

"MOM! DAD! JACK! KEVIN! IT'S ALMOST 10 O'CLOCK! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR CHURCH! HURRY! IF WE SKIP BREAKFAST WE MIGHT STILL MAKE IT ON TIME!"

I bolted down the hallway towards the stairs. No time to wait for them to drag themselves out of bed. My mind was reeling. Maybe if I was quick enough, I could run to the pantry and stuff some yogurt cups and plastic spoons into a bag for us to eat on the way, so we wouldn't have to skip breakfast after all.

Down the stairs I rhythmically rushed, _one-two-one-two-one-two-one-two_. But when I reached the bottom, I stopped dead in my tracks. I had found the source of the strange sound; in fact, it was staring me right in the face.

There was a tall redheaded boy tap-dancing in our living room.

**…**

He stopped in mid-step and glanced over at me. We stared at each other for a slightly uncomfortable amount of time; him at me with confusion and me at him with frightened awe.

I didn't know what to say or do. Any question seemed rude to ask offhand. No words came, and I became increasingly aware that my mouth was open in a fish-like "O". I stood like a statue on the bottom step.

Finally, the red-haired stranger broke the silence. He smiled and said brightly, "Hi."

My expression stayed frozen. "Uhhhhh…" I uttered. "Hi." Not the most intelligent-sounding response, but what else could I say?

The boy began to walk towards me, his tap shoes _click-clack_ing with every step he took. I stayed on the step, unmoving.

When he reached me, he gladly stuck out his hand. "You must be Kevin's little sister!" he said gaily.

My pupils dilated. So this stranger knew my brother…wait a minute…was this boy…

But I didn't ask. Instead, I nervously extended my hand and took his. "Uhhhhh…hi," I repeated. My cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. _Wow,_ I thought to myself. _Look at you, Miss Queen of Vocabulary._

The boy chuckled. "Hi!" he reciprocated as he heartily shook my hand. My cheeks felt like they were going to burst into flames.

After a few spirited shakes, the boy released my hand. I remained frozen. Even after a hello and a handshake, I still didn't know what to do or say, but the normal color returned to my face.

The boy looked behind me towards the top of the stairs. "Everything okay up there?" he asked me.

My cheeks reignited. So he'd heard my little scene upstairs. "Uhhh…uhhh…I…I…uhhh…," I stammered.

Suddenly, Kevin walked in from the bathroom. He was fully dressed, in a t-shirt and leisurely jeans. Definitely not church attire…But thank the Lord, an interruption.

When he saw me, his face lit up. "Well good morning, Miss Marie!" he greeted me cheerily. "I see you've met Connor!"

Connor. So _that_ was this mysterious houseguest's name. But I was still shell-shocked from this whole thing, so all I could say was, "Uhhhh…uh, yeah! So he's your…?" I trailed off because I wasn't sure what to add to that. Boyfriend? Lover? Significant other?

Both boys nodded and smiled.

"Yeah!" Kevin replied, followed by a "Yup!" from Connor. Neither of them said anything after that. And neither did I for a moment.

After a brief period of silence, I remembered my previous rush and asked Kevin, "So what's going on? It's almost time for church!"

Kevin sat down on the couch. "Oh, we're not going to church today, sweetie," he said.

I stared at him, dumbfounded. Not going to church? Never was such a sentence uttered in the Price household. We _never_ skipped church. Not even if one of us was sick; in that case, someone would stay home with the sick person and serve as caretaker while the rest of us went to church. Not even if _all_ of us were sick; okay, that was only once when I was really little (all five of us got horrible head colds but at least got an entire pew all to ourselves). Not even if we were on vacation; we either timed our family trips so we would make it back home in time for church, or we looked for a church to attend in the area where we were. The Price family was not a family to miss church. _Ever._

"What!?" I responded, my voice squeaking with concern. "Did Mom and Dad say so?"

"Sort of," Kevin replied. "Connor drove up from Provo really early this morning so he could meet Mom and Dad and-"

"What?!" I exclaimed again. "But I thought we were all going to meet him together! I thought we weren't even going to _meet_ him today! I thought you were just going to tell us about him!"

Kevin put his hand up to stop me. "Hold on!" he said. "Let me finish. I prayed about it, and I thought that Mom and Dad should know first. After you went to sleep, I went into Mom and Dad's room and told them about Connor, and then I called him and put it on speaker so they could talk to him. They really wanted to meet him, and his parents are at a retreat in Idaho this weekend, so we arranged to have him drive up here today from Provo, where he lives, so all of us could meet him. With all that plus me coming out yesterday…we just decided to take today off from church. Mom and Dad went to the store to get donuts for breakfast to celebrate meeting Connor. They didn't want to wake you and Jack up so early since we weren't going to church, so they wanted to let you two sleep in a bit."

"Too late," said a half-awake Jack who was trudging down the stairs behind me. He froze when he saw Connor and, confused, looked at Kevin and I, waiting for an explanation.

Kevin smiled. "Jack, meet Connor," he said.

Connor grinned at Jack and stuck his hand out. Jack, still a bit dazed from having just woken up, tentatively took it.

Jack blinked a few times. I could tell he still wasn't fully awake yet. "So, are you…?" he said, trailing off as I had done.

Both Connor and Kevin chuckled and nodded. Still confused, Jack looked at me, and I nodded in confirmation.

Another awkward silence descended upon us. But Heavenly Father is kind, and it was interrupted by the garage door opening.

Kevin's face lit up. "There's Mom and Dad!" he exclaimed. "Jack, would you go into the kitchen and get plates for everybody? They brought donuts!"

Jack shrugged and strolled to the kitchen, while Kevin turned on his heels and headed towards the garage.

This left me alone with Connor. I remained on the bottom of the stairs. I hadn't moved at all…

I looked up at Connor. He smiled at me expectantly, as if he were waiting for me to say something, _anything_.

"So…uhhhh…Connor," I reiterated. I nearly kicked myself for that one. I was trying to make a good first impression, but my less-than outstanding speaking skills paired with my horrendous-looking bed head wasn't helping much.

But Connor laughed. "Yup!" he said gaily. "Connor!"

I managed a small chuckle and smiled. _Connor_. A name I would remember forever.

**...**

**Well, there ya have it! Connor has pranced onto the scene!**

**But there is more to come...much more...**

**We've got an entire summer to chronicle, so be sure to stick around! :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Spies

**Hellooooo, faithful followers! I have returned! I am SO sorry for the wait! I haven't given up on this story and I hope you all haven't either! Enjoy and review if you like!**

**...**

After breakfast, with Mom and Dad gushing over Connor and his various accomplishments (Provo's leading tap-dancing youth, high school valedictorian, aspiring BYU student) the rest of the morning played out rather awkwardly. Seeing as, like I said, my family has never skipped church before, we had all this free time but we had no idea what to do with it. My parents and Jack mostly wandered about the house, picking up books and putting them down, switching the TV on and then off, opening and closing the refrigerator…

And me? I watched Kevin and Connor.

_They_ didn't do much beyond sitting on the living room couch, conversing about…well, truthfully I wasn't paying attention to that part.

I just sat at the dining room table, pretending to read a book…but really I was watching them. There they sat on the couch, laughing and carrying on. They seemed to move closer and closer to each other as time wore on. If they looked in my direction, I would quickly dart my eyes back to my book; once in a while I would even turn a page for good measure.

I know it's wrong to spy on people but, well…the thing is, I've always had an über-tight bond with both of my brothers. I love them more than anybody in this whole world. They've been there for me literally since the day I was born and when we were growing up, we did everything together.

But now that we're all getting older, we don't spend as much time together as we used to. I miss it. And neither of my brothers had ever had a girlfriend, much less a boyfriend. So I'm going to admit that I was a just a tad…ugh, this is going to hurt…jealous of Connor.

I know, I know, I shouldn't be so possessive. But I just can't help it. I have a really hard time adjusting to change. Heck, when Kevin was in Uganda it took me roundabout six months to wrap my head around the fact that he would be gone for two years.

Unfortunately, I got so caught up in scolding myself for wanting Kevvie all to myself that my eyes wandered back to my book…and stayed there. Of course, I had to pick my favorite book ("Rules" by Cynthia Lord) to pretend to read. I enjoy rereading my favorites, but I picked the worst possible time to do so. I think I got through a good chapter before snapping back to reality and remembering that I was on a spy mission. I swung my eyes up from the book, only to find the couch unoccupied.

I slammed my book shut and looked around me. Kevin and Connor were nowhere to be found. I got up and dashed about the entire floor, looking for them. When I couldn't find them, I darted up the stairs and nearly knocked over Jack.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, catching myself. "Sorry, Jack!"

Reaching his hands out to steady me, he smiled and replied, "It's alright, Rie. You're fine. What's your big hurry, though?"

Not wanting to give away my secret mission, I shrugged casually and said, "Oh, no reason. Just gotta put my book away."

"What book?"

Aw, crud. I was empty-handed. I guess I had left it on the table.

Nervously, I stuttered, "Uhhh…uhhh…oh, uh, I forgot it, I left it on the, uh…"

Jack chuckled. "Looks more like you were hunting for our big brother and his significant other."

Doing my best to look innocent, I gave him a balky look. _"Me?"_ I said, a bit too dramatically.

It didn't work. Jack busted up laughing. My shoulders slumped. My cover was blown. "Yeah," I admitted.

Jack softly squeezed my shoulder and kneeled down to look me in the eyes. "You feeling alright?" he asked.

I looked at him and sheepishly sealed my lips. "I guess I'm just…not used to him yet."

Jack half-smiled sympathetically. "Well the way to fix that is _not_ to spy on them," he said. "It's not okay to spy on people."

I dropped my head in shame. "Sorry," I mumbled.

Jack pulled me into a hug. He whispered in my ear, "Alone."

I pulled away and raised one eyebrow. "Huh?" I asked.

Jack smiled deviously. "It's not okay to spy on people _alone."_

My eyes widened and an excited grin broke out across my face. The partner-in-crime in my brother had just emerged.

People look at us and assume that we are an absolutely picture-perfect Mormon family, but to be quite honest, Jack and I have always had a bit of a rebellious streak about us. Hey, we're still Latter-Day Saints even if we break the rules once in a while.

Moments later, we located Kevin and Connor, concealed behind Kevin's nearly-closed bedroom door. And with that, we became spies. Flanking Jack, I strained to listen to what they were saying, but I couldn't make out anything. Having Jack as a partner-in-crime usually meant I was given the lower ranked job. Then again, I had already gotten a turn to eavesdrop the night before, so I really couldn't complain this time.

"What are they saying?" I whispered.

"Just more talk about Connor's tap-dancing career," Jack whispered back. "Apparently he's danced in _nine _national competitions, and he won high titles in all of them. Now he's telling Kev how he used to practice in Uganda when nobody was around because he missed it so much."

"Hmm," I said. "I always wanted to learn to tap dance. Maybe he could teach me."

"Yeah, maybe," Jack responded. After a pause, he added, "Truthfully, I always wanted to learn myself."

I regarded him quizzically. "Really?" I said. Tap-dancing? That wasn't my brother. Jack is a well-known jock at school; I'm talking hardcore cross-country runner, star quarterback, captain of the basketball team, the baseball team's best pitcher, and a jack-of-all-trades (pun very much intended) in track. No matter the season, Jack was out playing some kind of sport. The performing arts were never his forte.

Jack looked back at me. "Yeah!" he replied. "Why not? I've always loved watching tap dancers, and when I was a little kid I was fascinated by the sounds that the shoes make. But I've been so busy with sports all my life that I just…never really had time to get into it, I guess. And…I don't know, maybe I was a little bit shy about it."

"Why?" I asked. This was getting interesting.

"Well, what have I always done for extracurricular activities? Sports. Nothing but sports. And well, that's kind of what everybody came to expect from me. So I guess in a way, I didn't take up tap dancing because I didn't want to…disappoint anybody." He shrugged and shook his head. I could tell he was having a hard time explaining this.

My face softened and I leaned in closer to my brother. I looked into his eyes, and I saw what looked like…conflict. Like underneath the quietly congenial and sporty boy I had come to know and love, there was something buried much deeper that needed to be let out. But the way Jack's face was contorting with the struggle of grappling with finding the right words to explain his case told me that this wasn't the right time to dig it up. So I shook my head as though I was coming out of a daydream and said, "What are they saying now?"

Jack snapped back to the present and resumed his listening position.

"Huh…now I don't hear anything," he reported.

"Really? That's weird," I responded. "They've been chatting nonstop all day, maybe they ran out of-"

All of a sudden, we were on the floor! One minute, we were scouting the door to listen in on our big brother and his boyfriend, and the next minute we were toppled over onto the floor. "WHOA!" we both exclaimed, attempting to catch ourselves in the half-second we had to do it but ending up on top of each other.

Rubbing my sore noggin, which I had inadvertently bonked on Jack's rock-solid shoulder blade, I looked up to see what had happened, and found myself looking dead into the eyes of Kevin and Connor. Kevin's hand was resting on the doorknob. _Oh…_

All of us were silent for a minute. Kevin and Connor were smiling down at Jack and I; I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Well hello, you two!" Kevin greeted us jauntily. "Can we help you?"

Jack and I stared blankly up at him, our mouths hanging open, both of us stuttering, trying to conjure up a good explanation for this.

Connor piped up, "Maybe I could take Mister Jack downstairs and teach him his first steps! I have a pair of shoes he can borrow." He winked.

I swear I saw Jack's face turn apple-red.

**...**

**So Connor's first day in the Price house is going pretty well, don't you think? ;)**

**See y'all next chapter! Don't forget to stick around! :)**

**Quick A/N: "Rules" is my favorite book, so I just HAD to squeeze it in there! XD If you haven't read it, check it out. It's a great read :)**


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